It happened at the Grand Canyon. Originally in Las Vegas for her Uncle’s wedding, Courtney and Dustin stayed a few extra days with family and friends to explore some of the surrounding areas, including a trip to the Grand Canyon. Throughout the day Dustin tried his hardest to break away from the group and the crowds with some frustration and eventually succeeded when he told Courtney he had to tie his shoe. As he got down on one knee Courtney noticed that his shoe wasn’t untied.

They told me the story of their engagement when we first met last year, as well as the story of how they had met when they began working together. Though Courtney had eventually left that job, she and Dustin stayed in touch and the rest is history.

On a warm and sunny day in late October, Courtney and Dustin gathered some of their closest family and friends to celebrate their wedding at the beautiful Mapleside Farms. Their outdoor ceremony overlooked the fields, orchard and wooded area as the sun set behind them. A night of dancing and fun followed—and well, there was some pretty delicious food too ;) The day was nothing short of beautiful. Thank you Courtney & Dustin for letting me be a part of it!

“Artistic and strong headed.” That’s how Riley described herself to me. And from the first email she sent, I could tell Riley knew exactly what she wanted from her session.

Probably one of the most organized people I’ve worked with, early on Riley had sent me a link to an inspiration board on Pinterest. The board full of Lana Del Rey imagery, aptly titled “Goddess,” gave me the perfect idea of what she wanted her shoot to be styled after—something more editorial/edgy than a typical senior session.

Blessed with beautiful weather, we set out for our session just before sunset to capture the moodiness of early evening. As the sun began to fall in the sky we moved from downtown Tiffin to the park, capturing so much along the way. Riley was a natural in front of the camera, and after I began going through the photos once I got home, I knew that this was one of my favorite shoots.

(As a side note, deciding which images to put in this blog post was traumatizing—there were so many amazing shots!)

I first met Amanda during my freshman year at Kent State. She was living next door to one of my grade school friends. We’d hung out a few times, but one time in particular we were looking on Facebook at some of my photography. I had just shot my first couple of weddings and I remember Amanda saying that when she got married she would ask me to be her photographer. I thought nothing of this. It wasn’t until a few years later and a few months after I had seen her engagement on Facebook that the same mutual friend, that caused us to meet initially, reminded Amanda about my photography when she began her search for the wedding.

Amanda and I met up for coffee in late August to talk through the wedding and engagement session. One thing became clear to me as we talked—Fall is an important time for her and her fiancé Justin. It was last October that Justin proposed while on a trip to Mohican State Park and it’s now less than a year until their wedding next October.

It was a gorgeous Sunday morning when we headed out for our shoot at Rocky River Reservation. As we walked through the wooded areas and fields and took pictures it was so special to be witnessing two people so in love. It only helped make the beautiful weather and scenery better.

My job has allowed me to work with a lot of great people and to shoot in a lot of different locations. One location I had never really considered shooting at though was the zoo until Ann (Hannah’s mom) brought it up to me in conversation.

As it turns out the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo was an ideal location for Hannah’s personalized senior shoot. It was a place she had been coming her entire life with her family and later her friends. Walking around with Hannah as my guide (no map required!), she was reminded of specific memories and all the wonderful times she has had there. It was really a special shoot!

With the days getting shorter and the weather getting much colder, it definitely doesn’t feel like just over a month ago it was still “officially” summer. And as I looked over the photos from my first session with Mackenzie I couldn’t help but miss those summer days a little more.

Mackenzie and her mom approached me about doing a four season senior shoot a couple months ago. It’s something I haven’t done for a few years, but I was so excited to jump back in to it.

When I started brainstorming for our summer session I knew the perfect location, especially after learning that Mackenzie loves the beach. While we couldn’t make it to Florida where she and her family spend a lot of time, Edgewater Beach became our picturesque backdrop for this shoot.

As the sun started to set on the last “official” weekend of the summer, we began our session. The rain that had made me nervous earlier in the day had ended just an hour or so before and now the sky was filled with a golden haze. Mackenzie’s laid back and easy going attitude fit perfectly with the scenery. Not to mention the fact that she was also a complete natural in front of the camera :)